


Hello Again

by Captaineski



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Closure, Don't judge me flower shops are awesome, F/M, Future Fic, Harry Potter Epilogue Compliant, Reunions, marietta and Blaise have a flower shop!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 09:16:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16261211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captaineski/pseuds/Captaineski
Summary: Ten years later, Marietta and Hermione meet again at her flower shop.





	Hello Again

She supposed this is what happens when you give in to your husbands wish to take a break from behind the counter. She should have listened to her gut and stayed firm on the fact that it was his turn to work the register, instead of giving in to his sweet words.

Oh but the way he would kiss her neck. That man could play her like a fiddle when he wanted something.

The front door to the shop opened and the bell chimed, signaling the arrival of a new customer. “Excuse me,” a woman said as she entered, hesitant at first and unsure if someone was working before she noticed her standing behind the counter, then she strided further inside towards the counter. “Yes, I was hoping I would get a bouquet of tulips, please it’s for a special occasion.” 

The woman obviously didn’t recognize her, and she couldn’t blame her, the scarf that was currently wrapped around her face would prevent anyone from recognizing her. But Marietta recognized her the moment her bushy brown hair poked through the front door. At first, she was stuck, frozen in place as she blinked her eyes slowly before she cast her gaze down towards the register to calculate the price of the bouquet. 

“Would you like a card to go with it?” She asked, pointing towards the small stand on the counter where they keep various cards for special occasions. “They only cost a dollar extra with the bouquet.” 

“Oh yes, that would be lovely!” She said, Marietta, nodded and set about adding up the total. She was lucky she didn’t come during the holiday season, tulips and bouquets always cost extra during that time of year, even though it was out of season she could practically hear her husband’s voice tickling her coincidence. 

Add another dollar or two to that total Marietta, she could hear him say. She’s probably not familiar with the flower business, she wouldn’t notice. Marietta shook the petty thought from her head and glanced back up at her...customer. “That will be thirty galleons,” she said, the woman looked a little surprised for a moment, most likely because of the low price, before fishing in her purse for the galleons. 

She placed them in the palm of her hand, and Marietta turned to arrange a bouquet from the flowers in the back. 

Maybe she was in the clear, it has been ten years after all. People change in that amount of time, looks, personality, she doubted that if the scars left her entirely that she wouldn’t recognize the face that used to glance back at her in the mirror at Hogwarts. 

Marietta stepped from behind the counter, and a hand gently touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry but…” Ah, here it comes. “You look familiar do we know each other?” 

Perhaps it was the weariness she felt from working a five-hour shift without any coffee. Or perhaps she felt it was childish to duck and hide when you noticed someone you used to associate with in your younger years. She wasn’t sure which drove her to straighten her back, her gaze meeting Hermione’s dead on as she lifted her head and said, “well I do hope so Hermione we did go to school together.” 

Her dry wit was probably made it click. Hermione Granger gasped and pulled her hand back as if she was sick with the plague. Marietta glanced at her the area Hermione’s hand once touched, then the way Hermione was clutching said hand close to her chest. 

“Don’t worry” she said, “the scars aren’t contagious if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

The look of surprise returned to her face, she could already see that Hermione was mystified on the fact that she not only gave her a discount on the bouquet but was able to joke about the word that marred her face. She continued to look at her wordlessly in bewilderment for a moment before she schooled her features and the look of pride that she remembered seeing so long ago was on her face.

They stood there, the two of them just staring at each other. Marietta was afraid that if she would look away then she would somehow become named the loser in this sudden staring contest. Her husband could vouch for her strive to never lose a contest. 

A minute went by and for a moment Marietta considered holding up her hands in surrender. However, Hermione decided to the end for her. “I don’t regret it,” she said as she lifted her chin, letting out a small huff. “I won’t apologize.” 

“I never expected you to,” Marietta told her, her shoulders lifting in a shrug. Why was the woman even in here again? Oh right the Tulips, she should make that bouquet before she forgot again, maybe even suggest which card to choose for the occasion, her husband always brought in so many. 

“So we are in agreement then?” Marietta hummed and blinked her eyes once again. “That depends on what exactly are we agreeing on?” 

Hermione narrowed her eyes a bit in suspicion. “That you deserved what happened to you.” 

The chime on the front door rang again. A new customer, but Hermione didn’t seem to hear it, she just continued to look at Marietta for an answer. “Hermione…” she simply sighed, as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“You signed the contract after all.” Hermione continued on before the sentence could be completed. “Of course when I placed that hex I never expected anyone to betray us let alone you of all people.” 

“Hermione-”

“You were going to get us sent into detention after all. A scar is nothing compared to that.” 

“Hermione I hear you, but can we please continue this at a later?” Marietta glanced behind the other woman’s shoulder, and to the foot that was tapping impatiently against the ground. However the brightest witch of her generation was in her own little world, she may not have spent very much time with her Hogwarts, but she knew the moment she started talking about something, not even a dragon could stop her. 

“You knew the risks when you joined.” She droned on, “you should have known that there would be consequences to trying to betray us and-” Marietta, resigned to her new fate, placed her hands on Hermione’s shoulders and as gently as she could, moved the woman aside so she could greet the impatient man behind her. 

“Excuse me sir for one moment.” She said, unable to keep herself from smiling nervously behind her scarf. With a sigh, she sucked a breath and made sure her voice would be aimed towards the door that led to the back. “Blaise Zabini! If you do not get out here right now and handle this customer then you and I won’t be shagging for at least a week!” 

The sound of something breaking filled the air, before a rush of footsteps. The door flew open and Blaise stood, hunched over slightly as he tried to catch his breath. “Are you trying to kill me, woman?” He shook his head, “all that time I spent wooing you this morning and this is how you repay me.” 

For a moment a twinkle glistened in Marietta’s eyes. “If you do a good job taking care of the customer I’ll repay you in another way.” 

Blaise lifted a brow but moved behind the counter. “What can I do you for sir?” He asked, his charm in full display, which was godsend really as it seemed to melt away the man’s irritation. What would she be without him?

“You and Blaise?” Hermione muttered softly under her breath. The poor dear looking as if she was seconds away from a heart attack. “Last I checked you weren’t here to question me about my romance life Hermione.” Marietta chuckled, “but to answer your question. I’m not sure if I agree.” 

Hermione looked confused and honestly if the situations were reversed she could understand why. “How can you say you’re not sure? After what happened don’t you think this was a logical conclusion?” 

“I understand that.” Marietta said quickly, “I had ten years to cry, to think, to look into the mirror and ponder things. I understand that this was the logical conclusion to what happened and I had time to regret my actions.” 

Hermione’s eyes narrowed again. “But…” 

Marietta sighed, and shook her head. “I’ve spent ten years thinking about this Hermione. When you spend the first few months crying about a mistake you made when you were sixteen, hoping it would keep your mother from losing her job, eventually, you stop crying about it and the scars it left behind.” She motioned to her face, something that took ten years to joke about let alone motion to so casually. 

“Not only do you stop crying, you just stop caring, but I’m also not going to bore you with the details.” The months she spent as a confused and forgetful blank slate, how Cho kept her going before she met Blaise and he took her the rest of the way. “I stopped agonizing over it and I grew up.” 

She lifted her hand and gently placed it on Hermione’s shoulder, her eyes once again meeting hers. “I’m not going to create a scene, Hermione, I’m not going to cry and scream at you that you ruined my life or my face, or anything else you probably expected when you imagined us meeting. I will say that I should have explained myself, why I did what I did, along with an apology.” 

Hermione opened and closed her mouth as Marietta patted her shoulder. “I am sorry, what I did was wrong granted it took me a couple of months to remember exactly what you were angry at me for when my head got all…” she rotated a finger around her skull. “I should have done it years ago and I know it may not matter now but I still wanted to apologize.” 

Hermione was silent, her expression was stiff but still as controlled as it always was, without a word she turned her back, walking through the front door just as quickly as she walked in. 

Marietta watched her leave but her heart didn’t feel as heavy as she expected it to feel, she felt as if a weight lifted from her shoulder when the door opened and closed. An arm hooked around her waist and before she knew it she was pulled into Blaise’s warm embrace. 

“That was fast.” She laughed, “did you give him what he wanted or did you just through a bunch of flowers at his face so you could talk to me?” 

“One time,” Blaise said with a dramatic sigh, “I did it one time and you hold it over me forever. I’m starting to think you’re just with me so you can sass me.” Blaise kissed her cheek, and she couldn’t help but smile even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “Were my eyes deceiving me or were you talking to Hermione Granger just now?” 

“No your eyes aren't getting old just yet.” She said, “she came in for a bouquet for a special occasion.” 

She could feel him nod against the top of her head, as she rested her body against his for a brief moment. “Did you give her what she wanted?” He asked, for a moment she wasn’t sure if she was asking about the flowers or referring to something else. She glanced up at him, a little unsure on what to say but the weightless feeling was still coursing through her body, “I hope so.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've always been a little bitter about what happened to Marietta. I've tried to find some fanfiction about her, but most of them involve her either killing herself or seeing Hermione again then causing a scene. This is how I always imagined their reunion would go if they met again as adults instead of teenagers. It's not the best fic, but I had nothing else to do on a Wednesday night.


End file.
